Deputy President William Ruto has threatened to push for rejection of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) report if touchy issues are not tackled.
Backed by his allies in his tour of Mt Kenya region on Sunday, DP Ruto vowed to rally his Tangatanga faction of the ruling Jubilee Party in rejecting the report.
Uhuru’s deputy has been pushing for an uncontested referendum on the BBI that was launched last week Monday by Uhuru and ODM leader Raila Odinga and has issued a raft on demands that must be met for him to support the report.
“We want a national conversation that will lead to a consensus as the President asked. Do not force the BBI on us otherwise Kenyans will stop 'reggae',” the DP said in Karatina, Nyeri County.
Dr Ruto wants provisions on the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), National Police Service and Judiciary changed in the report.
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“We want to resolve issues on the independence of the IEBC. At the same time, we do not want a partisan judiciary,” he said.
The Deputy President also toured Kirinyaga and Tharaka Nithi counties on the second day of his trip to the region to drum up support for his 2022 presidential bid.
He maintained the Senate’s role should not be watered down, even as his allies rallies Nyeri and Kirinyaga residents to reject the BBI report and referendum.
— William Samoei Ruto, PhD (@WilliamsRuto) November 1, 2020
He was accompanied by a host of Mt Kenya region MPs led by Kiharu’s Ndindi Nyoro, Kikuyu’s Kimani Ichung’wah, Moses Kuria of Gatundu South, Alice Wahome of Kandara and Kirinyaga Woman Representative Wangui Ngirici.